Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Real Concerns About AI At Doctor Appointments; The NIH Is Misguided On Health Equity Research
Stat: As A Patient, I Don’t Want My Doctor To Use An AI Scribe
There is an ongoing race to build artificial intelligence to rival or exceed the human capacity for seeing, thinking, and feeling. While I share the accuracy, ethical, and safety worries that critics raise about the adoption of unregulated AI tools in medicine, as a patient I am also concerned about the erosion of the humane, therapeutic experiences of medicine with the intrusion of these tools on the patient-physician relationship. (Aliaa Barakat, 4/15)
Stat: The NIH Called My Health Equity Research 'Antithetical To Scientific Inquiry'
As a pediatrician and a scientist-in-training, I conduct research on a critical question in my community: Where are families facing the greatest risks of housing and food insecurity? This work is fundamental to improving children’s lives. Yet recently, the National Institutes of Health abruptly terminated my funding. (Logan Beyer, 4/15)
The Boston Globe: Lessons Learned In The Waiting Room
At a certain age, the parts of a single body that have lived in harmony for years start to separate and insist on their own specialists. One PCP is not enough anymore. (Elissa Ely, 4/14)
Los Angeles Times: Families Caring For Elders Need More Than Compassion. They Need Day Programs To Ensure Support
Family caregivers need us to show up for them through structural investment in formal elder care, especially day programs for people with Alzheimer's and dementia. There are 7 million Americans who have Alzheimer's and about twice that many family caregivers. The lifetime risk for Alzheimer's at age 45 is 1 in 5 for women and 1 in 10 for men. (Courtney E. Martin, 4/14)
Dallas Morning News: Texas Should Ban Sugary Drinks On Food Stamps
The Texas Senate has already passed a bill to allow Texas to prohibit the purchase of sugary beverages and unhealthful snacks like candy and potato chips using food stamps. Lawmakers are reacting to the reality that food stamps have become a major cause of our state’s and our country’s health crisis. (Victoria Eardley, 4/14)
